Rehearsals are in full swing. But while most students are focused on their songs and dance steps, a tense backstage drama threatens the entire production.

It’s audition time at PVPA. Will students get the parts they want? Will it come down to race, talent or both? And is anyone giving Dorothy?

When a bussing program brings a group of Black students to a predominately white performing arts high school in rural Massachusetts, a racial reckoning rocks the campus. And an unlikely selection for the school’s annual musical reshapes the student body forever.  

Coming up next on Radiotopia Presents: We’re Doing The Wiz. Two former classmates reconnect to unpack the high school musical that changed their lives

Learn more about We're Doing The Wiz at radiotopiapresents.fm and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at radiotopia.fm.

On May 24, 2025 in LA, Red for Revolution's creator/writer/director Jana Naomi Smith joined The Frogs for a rollicking live taping of their podcast, to talk career, inspiration, the origins of R4R, and for a live performance featuring Caro Guzmán.

To listen to the full episode, head over to the The Frogs — where theater, culture, and vibe collide. Co-hosted by Alex Ubokudom and Tobie Windham, the podcast dives deep with groundbreaking artists, thinkers, and storytellers who are shaping the future of performance and cultural expression.

From unforgettable interviews to live events and creative activations, The Frogs is more than a podcast, it’s a movement. It’s community. Whether you’re in the industry or simply love a good story, The Frogs invites you to tap in.

Created in collaboration with Outside In Theatre.

Today we’re introducing our Radiotopia Presents listeners to a brand new show out now from Radiotopia. It’s called Selects.

Selects is a monthly show that brings you unearthed audio works we’ve found buried in web archives, radio streams, and old podcasts. They’ve come to us through the recommendations and inspirations of some of the most talented audio creators working today.

Every month we release a new episode right here and it is going to be something that you definitely want to hear. The works that we are going to feature are going to be some of the most compelling and exciting and ambitious works in audio.

You can find the whole library of exclusively curated works and bonus content at selects.fm or on our Apple Podcasts channel. 

Recently, the White House announced its plans to ask Congress to rescind funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If the plan passes, there could be serious consequences for the public media ecosystem.

Rather than tell you why we think public media is important, we are sharing this piece from NPR's Up First. This story is one of the best things we've listened to this year, so we think you'll enjoy it, just because. We also think it'll show you, a thousand times better than we can tell you, about why public media is essential. 

Kudos to The Sunday Story team at NPR for this magnificent piece. For more info, visit NPR.org.

Today we're sharing the first episode of Harlem Queen, a historical audio drama detailing the powerful story of “Policy Queen” and “gangster” Madame Stephanie St. Clair.

Madame St. Clair had a powerful impact on building the Harlem community underground and aboveground and defining the Harlem Renaissance. Our goal is for you to be entertained, educated, empowered and uplifted after hearing this amazing story! 

Harlem Queen can be found at https://www.yhanewashingtonsmith.com/ or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 

In October 2024, Apple Podcasts launched a new initiative to highlight narrative series, including designating a new show every month as a Series Essential, celebrating the finest storytelling and the medium’s greatest achievements. My Mother Made Me is the March 2025 selection.

For this special occasion, we asked Jason to sit down with his mother to reflect on their experience of documenting and sharing their very special relationship with the world.

Today, we're sharing the first episode of a new limited-run series from NPR's Embedded, "Alternate Realities".

Zach Mack and his dad are living in separate realities, and it's tearing their family apart. Like so many Americans, Zach's dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. After years of circular arguments, the father challenged his son to a bet: $10,000 on ten politically apocalyptic predictions that would all happen in 2024. In this three-part series, we follow Zach on an intimate journey to bring his father back from the rabbit hole. 

"This is more than just a story about whose reality is 'correct'," said Zach Mack. "As I documented my father's beliefs throughout the past year, I was also trying to understand how the conspiracy theories he found took hold. The bet offered a way to settle our endless debates, which I know so many other families are having, and arrive at a place of truth and understanding."

"Alternate Realities" intimately explores how the intermingling of misinformation and Zach's father's religious beliefs tests the bonds of his family, and offers a first-person perspective into an issue plaguing close relationships across the nation. How do you reach a loved one who is lost inside his own conspiracy mentality? And what do you do if your best efforts to bring them back end up failing?

Embedded is available wherever you get your podcasts.